Jeffrey D. Sadow is an associate professor of political science at Louisiana State University Shreveport. If you're an elected official, political operative or anyone else upset at his views, don't go bothering LSUS or LSU System officials about that because these are his own views solely.
This publishes five days weekly with the exception of 7 holidays. Also check out his Louisiana Legislature Log especially during legislative sessions (in "Louisiana Politics Blog Roll" below).

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17.7.14

Looks as if an idiot magnet popped
up in Pineville, attracting a motley iron-headed bunch that wants to loot
Louisiana taxpayers and to discourage improved health care delivery even as
they have no hope of attaining their ultimate goal.

Last week, a gripe
session over the closure of the state’s Huey P. Long Medical Center was
sponsored by Pineville Concerned Citizens, which has a history not only of pushing
leftist causes but also of flouting
Internal Revenue Service regulations. Heartened by a state
district court ruling that the closing violated open meetings law, even as
the court allowed the closing to proceed at the end of June, many participants clamored
for reopening the facility regardless of consequences to taxpayers and clients.

While it’s been only a couple of
weeks since the hospitals functions have been farmed out to other local
providers and with plans to have some medical care delivered by other providers
on the site in a smaller footprint, the sane people involved discussed ways how
to preserve the three-quarter-century-old facility and to find incentives to put
it into use again. By contrast, the wackos present pledged in different ways to
restore some semblance of income and power redistribution now made less
possible by the state getting out of, except in one instance, the business of
providing health care directly.

16.7.14

While the relatively picayunish
matter over the recoupment
of $53,000 to the city opposed by Mayor Cedric Glover may
grab headlines, a much more fundamental transformation of city finance goes on
much more quietly and harmoniously even as it is much more desperately needed.

As noted
previously in this space, Shreveport faces
a ticking time bomb in its employee pension fund (which excludes public
safety employees). Barely half funded, at least it’s in better shape than it
was a few years ago, courtesy of investment earnings, and is mandated to be
fully funded by 2039. But, problematically, under current rules that won’t
matter; it’ll be drained completely by 2026.

Thus, the board that oversees the
Employees’
Retirement System – City of Shreveport has brought up ideas for city
government to consider in trying to erase the gap, which admirably place the
emphasis on doing that where it needs to be. One prong is to change the multiplier
that allows a city employee to draw full retirement pay (usually based on an
average of the last two years’ salary) with as few as 30 years worked (meaning
one could retire in their late 40s) to more like a little over 36 years (still
meaning a full pension as early as one’s mid-50s), starting with hires for next
year. The other increases by a percentage point a year from the current nine
percent of salary to fund the pension up to 12 percent by 2017. As a majority
on the board are the mayor or his appointees and a City Council member, what
the board decides almost certainly will be approved by city government.

15.7.14

It’s not surprising that
Republican state Rep. Paul Hollisannounced
his exit from the U.S. Senate race this fall, because it never made much
sense for him to enter it in the first place if he thought he could win.

That’s not because Hollis is not
a conservative, with a three-year average score on the Louisiana Legislature Log voting index of
just under 75 (well above the chamber and a bit above the GOP legislative averages,
where 100 shows always voting for the conservative/reform preference). That’s
not because Hollis has not demonstrated that he can win elections and has
experience in a significant elective office, as he got himself elected to his
position in 2011. It is that he got in the contest later than the two other Republican
candidates who carved out space in both of these areas.

Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy has proven conservative
credentials and almost six years’ experience in national government, including putting
into law a significant item or two (for example, being one of the main
forces behind getting markedly higher flood insurance rates for some homeowners
delayed and lowered). But if somebody doesn’t like that Cassidy didn’t vote the
conservative issue preference every single time and/or that he’s been in
Congress all that time, then for you there’s absolutely politically inexperienced
Republican Rob Maness who claims he can
vote more conservatively than Cassidy.

14.7.14

The conflict between the
irresistible force and the unmovable object might be headed to a denouement
sooner than realized, increasing the chances that Gov. Bobby
Jindal turns out as the political loser.

Unable to stop test
administration through political or administrative means, as neither BESE nor
the state Legislature agree with him, Jindal has resorted to bureaucratic ploys
via executive order such as layering contract review provisions onto getting
the test paid and into classrooms next spring. The sheer obstinacy and disruptiveness
of the machinations to halt dissemination when clear majorities in the
appropriate policy-making organs of state government favor use of the PARCC
tests makes it a high-risk
strategy, where any inability to stop this makes Jindal look petty and unlike
a statesman, but where success may give him an aura of ability to get the job
done in preventing what some consider bad policy from getting inflicted on the
people.

13.7.14

The Louisiana Supreme Court’s decision
regarding a civil matter may end in a monumental First Amendment decision
setting a landmark for future jurisprudence in the area.

At issue is the court’s ruling in case
#2013-C-2879, which orders a Catholic priest to answer questions potentially
about the content of information he heard from a then-minor female five years ago.
The girl allegedly was abused sexually, told the priest in confession, who then
it is argued did not follow the law. This is relevant to a suit filed by the
girl’s family against the family and business of the reputed abuser and, later
added as plaintiffs, the Diocese of Baton Rouge and the priest; the alleged
abuser died not long after the reputed confessional sessions took place.

Louisiana law generally grants an
exception to its mandatory reporting law to clergy when the communication of
possible abuse of a minor or other crime comes as part of confidential communication
relevant to the performance of a professional duty; in this instance, the
sacrament of confession. However, the law (Code of
Evidence) also states that the receiver of the communication “shall encourage
that person to report the allegations to the appropriate authorities.” Also (Children's Code) stated is that "Notwithstanding any claim of privileged communication, any mandatory reporter who has cause to believe that a child's physical or mental health or welfare is endangered" by alleged conduct has a duty to report.

The suit
seeks to discover whether that advice was given and if the priest thought there was endangerment, being that this at best is a judgment call and it's entirely possible the way it was communicated he did not think so. The Court says these may be
discovered because it interprets the law to put the locus on what is treated as
such communication in the hands of the sender of that communication, and the
girl has made public what she said was communicated by both parties in a series
of confessional sessions.

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